Review of Kubo and the Two Strings Full Movie: This is not an old-fashioned stop-motion animation. This is a very modern, a hybrid of multiple techniques that include 3D printing and digital special effects. The directional debut for the producer of 'ParaNorman' and 'The Boxtrolls'. The tale is about a one-eyed boy named Kubo, who has been hiding in a seaside mountain cave near a small village from his grandfather, the moon king, ever since his birth, protected by his mother. He grew up listening to the stories of a legendary samurai warrior Hanzo.
But one day after he himself exposed to the moonlight, the troubles follow. Now his only chance to survive is to find his father's armors and so the quest begins where he teams up with other two. This is a Japanese story, takes place somewhere in a fictional ancient Japan. Technically, this film was so good, very pleasant for viewing, especially the framerate was higher than normal stop-motion animation. The character models, music, the length of the film, the pace of the narration, all were so brilliant, but not the story. It was average, I mean very, very simple and familiar. Still, it is a very likable film, particularly the children would love it. I'm going to repeat again like I always say while reviewing stop-motion animation films that this kind of films is rare, so when they make one, that automatically goes to a must-see list. Whether you're going to like it or not, I hope you won't miss it. Kubo And The Two Strings is a great animated adventure that brings enough quality to make it a memorable movie.
The story is about Kubo, who lives alone with his mother. They live a secluded life and the boy isn't permitted to be outside after dark. Naturally, at a certain point, it does happen and this is the starting point for the boy to go on a grand adventure with his two companions. A monkey and a beetle, who at first just look like magical creatures, but turn out to be more special for Kubo then he thinks. The plot twists in this movie aren't really that surprising, you can see them coming from miles away. But that doesn't matter. The drawing style isn't perfect like some other animated movies, but that is part of the great atmosphere in this movie. Legendary weapons, strong warriors, horrific monsters and some silly humor, Kubo And The Two Strings has everything to entertain you and your kids from start to finish.
This movie came to me highly recommended from movie critics that I deeply respect, and from the Academy (seeing that it was nominated for Best Animated Picture of 2016). I was excited to see it because I love stop motion animation and I love Japanese mythology. Unfortunately, after I saw it I didn't even really want to review it because it gave me nothing to talk about. It was one of those movies that you have a lot of expectations for, but it doesn't meet any of them. I decided to review it because I think there needs to be a balance of criticism. A movie is never just perfect or just god awful, a film usually lies in a grey area which is why it's so fun to review them. You'll pick out different shades than someone else might or might not.
Kubo and the Two Strings starts out with a woman on a boat who can part the seas with her shamisen. She's running away from a great evil and almost drowns. She even hits her head on a rock at the bottom of the sea and they show red blood, which for a kid's film which was pretty cool. She and her baby land ashore and time flash forward. The baby is now a young boy, Kubo, and the mother is now only a ghost of her formal magical shelf. She barely talks or remembers who her own son is. The beginning slow part I actually really enjoyed. The chemistry Kubo and his mom have together is really touching and beautiful. It's rare we get to see a mother-son relationship in kid's films. One day, Kubo stays out after dark and his mother's two evil sisters (who are moon people) descend upon him and try to steal his other eye. The moon king (Kubo's matrilineal grandfather) and his two daughters want to steal Kubo's other eye so he can join them in his moon kingdom where they can be immortal together. Kubo tries running away, but it's his mom who saves him and puts the last of her magic into his jade monkey relic. We later learn that his mother gave up immortality in the moon kingdom with her father and sisters for life in the human world, which is imperfect, but that's what makes it great.
The next morning, the monkey relic comes to life as a real snow monkey. The snow monkey is Kubo's mother. Kubo and his mother must go on a quest to find his father's magic armor (his father presumably died trying to get it the first time). Kubo must get the armor to protect himself from the moon king. Along the way, Kubo meets a cursed beetle who turns out to be his father. They kill the two moon sisters at the expense of Kubo's parents (ouch). Kubo, now an orphan, but with the armor, must defend himself against the moon king in the final battle. The moon king turns out to be an evil centipede who possessed his grandfather's soul and took his eyes. Kubo is able to defeat the creature, not by brute strength and his armor, but with his shamisen, and the three strings (one made of his mother's hair, the other from his father's bow, and the other hair from his own head). The twist ending is that after vanquishing the beast, his grandfather is left on earth. He doesn't remember anything that happened or that he was possessed by the moon spirit. When he asks who he was, the village people say that he was the kindest, a most charitable man in the whole village. He's left alone to raise Kubo, and Kubo remains parentless but finds solace in his spirituality.
At a glance, the film sounds pretty good. And it isn't bad. The animation is stunning. When the origami comes to life it's breathtaking. The boat made out leaves was so cool! The eyes at the bottom of the long lake and the skeleton battle are really fun to watch. It made me feel like a kid again. I also liked a lot of the humor that came out of the monkey and beetle. I like how they were funny, but not comedic animal sidekicks. They had the depth to them. The beetle was there mostly for laughs, but monkey really gets a lot of touching scenes. I also love how the animal versions of Kubo's parents have features from their human form. The monkey has a scar on her eye like Kubo's mother, and the beetle has markings on his face that look like facial hair. Those little details were great. I also greatly admire the time, effort, and passion that went into making the entire film. If you look up the behind the scenes some of the technology they used to bring the story to life was incredible.
The majority of the film, besides how it looked, and the dialogue, fell flat. The plot, exposition, and motivations were weak. The plot of finding the armor is as basic of a hero's quest that there is. The only difference is that it's set in Japan. The exposition was hard to follow for the adults I was watching it with, imagine kids. I didn't really like the running quote, "If you must blink, do it now." The voice actor didn't do it for me. I got a lot of it, but I was still confused about why Kubo's grandfather had one eye that worked at the end. Wasn't he completely blind before? And the metaphor of blindness leading to ignorance was a little forced. If anything, being blind actually makes you see more than actually having eyes (King Lear, Oedipus, The Odyssey, and Hercules). The motivation for the villains I didn't get either. So they have to take his other eye, not to kill him, but for him to join them? And they never show the other world that they want to take him to. How do we as the audience know it's evil if we can't even see it?!
The ending with the grandpa was cute at first, but then I thought, what if he has flashbacks of his former life like beetle did? Or what if he was born to do evil. Are they making a nature vs. nurture argument here? Not to mention, he never pays for what he did. They're just keeping him more blind and ignorant. If anything, they'll just confuse him and are taking advantage of someone who has amnesia. The theme of family they also try to push. Like if you don't have a complete family, that's okay. Or a family isn't just a mom, and a dad, it can be a monkey and beetle too. Ugh, I'm sick of animal metaphors. Are they equating unconventional families to animals? Lastly, the pacing of the jokes was really fast. A lot of them you miss if you're not paying attention closely (I guess that's the main theme of the movie, pay attention).
All in all, I think this film should have beaten out Zootopia as far as animated movies go. The animation was flawless, and though the storytelling lacked, Zootopia I knew the end from the first 10 minutes, at least this film had me guessing. However, I still haven't seen My Life is a Zucchini or The Red Turtle, but I definitely want to. I give Kubo and the Two Strings 7/10.
This movie came to me highly recommended from movie critics that I deeply respect, and from the Academy (seeing that it was nominated for Best Animated Picture of 2016). I was excited to see it because I love stop motion animation and I love Japanese mythology. Unfortunately, after I saw it I didn't even really want to review it because it gave me nothing to talk about. It was one of those movies that you have a lot of expectations for, but it doesn't meet any of them. I decided to review it because I think there needs to be a balance of criticism. A movie is never just perfect or just god awful, a film usually lies in a grey area which is why it's so fun to review them. You'll pick out different shades than someone else might or might not.
At a glance, the film sounds pretty good. And it isn't bad. The animation is stunning. When the origami comes to life it's breathtaking. The boat made out leaves was so cool! The eyes at the bottom of the long lake and the skeleton battle are really fun to watch. It made me feel like a kid again. I also liked a lot of the humor that came out of the monkey and beetle. I like how they were funny, but not comedic animal sidekicks. They had the depth to them. The beetle was there mostly for laughs, but monkey really gets a lot of touching scenes. I also love how the animal versions of Kubo's parents have features from their human form. The monkey has a scar on her eye like Kubo's mother, and the beetle has markings on his face that look like facial hair. Those little details were great. I also greatly admire the time, effort, and passion that went into making the entire film. If you look up the behind the scenes some of the technology they used to bring the story to life was incredible.
The majority of the film, besides how it looked, and the dialogue, fell flat. The plot, exposition, and motivations were weak. The plot of finding the armor is as basic of a hero's quest that there is. The only difference is that it's set in Japan. The exposition was hard to follow for the adults I was watching it with, imagine kids. I didn't really like the running quote, "If you must blink, do it now." The voice actor didn't do it for me. I got a lot of it, but I was still confused about why Kubo's grandfather had one eye that worked at the end. Wasn't he completely blind before? And the metaphor of blindness leading to ignorance was a little forced. If anything, being blind actually makes you see more than actually having eyes (King Lear, Oedipus, The Odyssey, and Hercules). The motivation for the villains I didn't get either. So they have to take his other eye, not to kill him, but for him to join them? And they never show the other world that they want to take him to. How do we as the audience know it's evil if we can't even see it?!
The ending with the grandpa was cute at first, but then I thought, what if he has flashbacks of his former life like beetle did? Or what if he was born to do evil. Are they making a nature vs. nurture argument here? Not to mention, he never pays for what he did. They're just keeping him more blind and ignorant. If anything, they'll just confuse him and are taking advantage of someone who has amnesia. The theme of family they also try to push. Like if you don't have a complete family, that's okay. Or a family isn't just a mom, and a dad, it can be a monkey and beetle too. Ugh, I'm sick of animal metaphors. Are they equating unconventional families to animals? Lastly, the pacing of the jokes was really fast. A lot of them you miss if you're not paying attention closely (I guess that's the main theme of the movie, pay attention).
All in all, I think this film should have beaten out Zootopia as far as animated movies go. The animation was flawless, and though the storytelling lacked, Zootopia I knew the end from the first 10 minutes, at least this film had me guessing. However, I still haven't seen My Life is a Zucchini or The Red Turtle, but I definitely want to. I give Kubo and the Two Strings 7/10.
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